Melvyn Bragg to wed for a third time at the age of 80
LET THE bells ring out! I can reveal that distinguished broadcaster Melvyn Bragg is to marry his long‑time lover Gabriel Clare‑Hunt.
The ceremony will take place in his native Cumbria this autumn to coincide with his 80th birthday.
The news comes just six months after he divorced Cate Haste, his second wife.
Cate, who wrote a book about the wives of British prime ministers with Cherie Blair, was granted a ‘quickie’ divorce in November in a 50‑second hearing at the Central London Family Court that brought to an end their 45‑year marriage.
It is thought that Bragg’s daughter, Marie‑Elsa, who is a Church of England priest, will officate at the wedding. She is his daughter from his first marriage to Marie‑Elisabeth Roche. Known to friends as Lise, Roche killed herself in 1971.
Bragg confirmed the news of his impending nuptials to Gabriel, who is in her early 60s, but declined to comment further. ‘Gabriel has really looked after him this past year, and her care made him think how great it would be to marry her,’ says a
friend. ‘ He wants the double celebration of being 80 in October along with the wedding.’
Bragg was first reported to have had an affair with Clare‑Hunt more than 20 years ago when she was a secretary at London Weekend Television, where he was arts controller
In papers submitted by Cate, she said the marriage had ‘broken down irretrievably’ and cited ‘ two years’ separation by consent’ as grounds for the divorce. District Judge Anne Hudd granted a decree nisi, with neither Lord Bragg, who presents Radio 4 discussion programme In Our Time, nor Cate present.
Two years ago, the Labour peer agreed a huge financial settlement with Cate, with whom he has two children: filmmaker Alice and science journalist Tom. He is understood to have shelled out several million pounds to buy Cate her own home in Hampstead, North London, as part of an ‘amicable agreement’, even though they were not, at that stage, divorcing.
Searching for a soulmate gripped Bragg’s imagination in his novel Love Without End about two star‑crossed lovers, Heloise and Abelard. It seems in real life, love conquers all, too.